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    <h1 align="CENTER">Module mod_auth_db</h1>

    <p>This module provides for user authentication using Berkeley
    DB files.</p>

    <p><a href="module-dict.html#Status"
    rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a> Extension<br />
     <a href="module-dict.html#SourceFile"
    rel="Help"><strong>Source File:</strong></a>
    mod_auth_db.c<br />
     <a href="module-dict.html#ModuleIdentifier"
    rel="Help"><strong>Module Identifier:</strong></a>
    db_auth_module<br />
     <a href="module-dict.html#Compatibility"
    rel="Help"><strong>Compatibility:</strong></a> Available in
    Apache 1.1 and later.</p>

    <h2>Summary</h2>

    <p>This module provides an alternative to <a
    href="mod_auth_dbm.html">DBM</a> files for those systems which
    support DB and not DBM. It is only available in Apache 1.1 and
    later.</p>

    <p>On some BSD systems (<em>e.g.</em>, FreeBSD and NetBSD) dbm
    is automatically mapped to Berkeley DB. You can use either <a
    href="mod_auth_dbm.html">mod_auth_dbm</a> or mod_auth_db. The
    latter makes it more obvious that it's Berkeley DB. On other
    platforms where you want to use the DB library you usually have
    to install it first. See <a
    href="http://www.sleepycat.com/">http://www.sleepycat.com/</a>
    for the distribution. The interface this module uses is the one
    from DB version 1.85 and 1.86, but DB version 2.x can also be
    used when compatibility mode is enabled.</p>

    <h2>Directives</h2>

    <ul>
      <li><a href="#authdbgroupfile">AuthDBGroupFile</a></li>

      <li><a href="#authdbuserfile">AuthDBUserFile</a></li>

      <li><a
      href="#authdbauthoritative">AuthDBAuthoritative</a></li>
    </ul>

    <p>See also: <a href="core.html#satisfy">satisfy</a> and <a
    href="core.html#require">require</a>.</p>
    <hr />

    <h2><a id="authdbgroupfile"
    name="authdbgroupfile">AuthDBGroupFile directive</a></h2>

    <a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax"
    rel="Help"><strong>Syntax:</strong></a> AuthDBGroupFile
    <em>file-path</em><br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Context"
    rel="Help"><strong>Context:</strong></a> directory,
    .htaccess<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Override"
    rel="Help"><strong>Override:</strong></a> AuthConfig<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Status"
    rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a> Extension<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Module"
    rel="Help"><strong>Module:</strong></a> mod_auth_db 

    <p>The AuthDBGroupFile directive sets the name of a DB file
    containing the list of user groups for user authentication.
    <em>File-path</em> is the absolute path to the group file.</p>

    <p>The group file is keyed on the username. The value for a
    user is a comma-separated list of the groups to which the users
    belongs. There must be no whitespace within the value, and it
    must never contain any colons.</p>

    <p>Security: make sure that the AuthDBGroupFile is stored
    outside the document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em>
    put it in the directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients
    will be able to download the AuthDBGroupFile unless otherwise
    protected.</p>

    <p>Combining Group and Password DB files: In some cases it is
    easier to manage a single database which contains both the
    password and group details for each user. This simplifies any
    support programs that need to be written: they now only have to
    deal with writing to and locking a single DBM file. This can be
    accomplished by first setting the group and password files to
    point to the same DB file:</p>

    <blockquote>
      <code>AuthDBGroupFile /www/userbase<br />
       AuthDBUserFile /www/userbase</code>
    </blockquote>
    The key for the single DB record is the username. The value
    consists of 

    <blockquote>
      <code>Unix Crypt-ed Password : List of Groups [ : (ignored)
      ]</code>
    </blockquote>
    The password section contains the Unix crypt() password as
    before. This is followed by a colon and the comma separated
    list of groups. Other data may optionally be left in the DB
    file after another colon; it is ignored by the authentication
    module. 

    <p>See also <a href="core.html#authname">AuthName</a>, <a
    href="core.html#authtype">AuthType</a> and <a
    href="#authdbuserfile">AuthDBUserFile</a>.</p>
    <hr />

    <h2><a id="authdbuserfile"
    name="authdbuserfile">AuthDBUserFile</a> directive</h2>

    <a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax"
    rel="Help"><strong>Syntax:</strong></a> AuthDBUserFile
    <em>file-path</em><br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Context"
    rel="Help"><strong>Context:</strong></a> directory,
    .htaccess<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Override"
    rel="Help"><strong>Override:</strong></a> AuthConfig<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Status"
    rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a> Extension<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Module"
    rel="Help"><strong>Module:</strong></a> mod_auth_db 

    <p>The AuthDBUserFile directive sets the name of a DB file
    containing the list of users and passwords for user
    authentication. <em>File-path</em> is the absolute path to the
    user file.</p>

    <p>The user file is keyed on the username. The value for a user
    is the crypt() encrypted password, optionally followed by a
    colon and arbitrary data. The colon and the data following it
    will be ignored by the server.</p>

    <p>Security: make sure that the AuthDBUserFile is stored
    outside the document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em>
    put it in the directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients
    will be able to download the AuthDBUserFile.</p>

    <p>Important compatibility note: The implementation of
    "dbmopen" in the apache modules reads the string length of the
    hashed values from the DB data structures, rather than relying
    upon the string being NULL-appended. Some applications, such as
    the Netscape web server, rely upon the string being
    NULL-appended, so if you are having trouble using DB files
    interchangeably between applications this may be a part of the
    problem.</p>

    <p>A perl script called
    href="../programs/dbmmanage.html"&gt;dbmmanage is included with
    Apache. This program can be used to create and update DB format
    password files for use with this module.</p>
    See also <a href="core.html#authname">AuthName</a>, <a
    href="core.html#authtype">AuthType</a> and <a
    href="#authdbgroupfile">AuthDBGroupFile</a>. 
    <hr />

    <h2><a id="authdbauthoritative"
    name="authdbauthoritative">AuthDBAuthoritative</a>
    directive</h2>

    <a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax"
    rel="Help"><strong>Syntax:</strong></a> AuthDBAuthoritative
    on|off<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Default"
    rel="Help"><strong>Default:</strong></a>
    <code>AuthDBAuthoritative on</code><br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Context"
    rel="Help"><strong>Context:</strong></a> directory,
    .htaccess<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Override"
    rel="Help"><strong>Override:</strong></a> AuthConfig<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Status"
    rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a> Base<br />
     <a href="directive-dict.html#Module"
    rel="Help"><strong>Module:</strong></a> mod_auth 

    <p>Setting the AuthDBAuthoritative directive explicitly to
    <strong>'off'</strong> allows for both authentication and
    authorization to be passed on to lower level modules (as
    defined in the <code>Configuration</code> and
    <code>modules.c</code> file if there is <strong>no
    userID</strong> or <strong>rule</strong> matching the supplied
    userID. If there is a userID and/or rule specified; the usual
    password and access checks will be applied and a failure will
    give an Authorization Required reply.</p>

    <p>So if a userID appears in the database of more than one
    module; or if a valid <code>Require</code> directive applies to
    more than one module; then the first module will verify the
    credentials; and no access is passed on; regardless of the
    AuthAuthoritative setting.</p>

    <p>A common use for this is in conjunction with one of the
    basic auth modules; such as <a
    href="mod_auth.html"><code>mod_auth.c</code></a>. Whereas this
    DB module supplies the bulk of the user credential checking; a
    few (administrator) related accesses fall through to a lower
    level with a well protected .htpasswd file.</p>

    <p>By default, control is not passed on and an unknown userID
    or rule will result in an Authorization Required reply. Not
    setting it thus keeps the system secure and forces an NCSA
    compliant behavior.</p>

    <p>Security: Do consider the implications of allowing a user to
    allow fall-through in his .htaccess file; and verify that this
    is really what you want; Generally it is easier to just secure
    a single .htpasswd file, than it is to secure a database which
    might have more access interfaces.</p>

    <p>See also <a href="core.html#authname">AuthName</a>, <a
    href="core.html#authtype">AuthType</a> and <a
    href="#authdbgroupfile">AuthDBGroupFile</a>.</p>

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